Post-Game Talk: Leafs beat Rags 3-2 OT

[Leafs at Knight]

Funny reading the Rangers board and their blaming the coach for the loss not starting their 'kid' line, which 2 of are under .5ppg, and the other has 28 in 40 lol. They can't just admit that Kakko and Laf just aren't good.

 

[Torontonian]

Very nice goal by Marner and good come back, reminded me of a playoff game, low event and hard to find scoring.

 

[al secord]

Up until the late goal by Liljegren and then the OT beauty by Marner, the highlight of the night was my wife getting grossed out by Bunting picking his nose.

He picked the corner, top cheese.

 

[ACC1224]

Seems Holl does half a dozen things every night that I just laugh and shake my head at. The play on that second goal was truly special.

 

[wingman75]

Seems Holl does half a dozen things every night that I just laugh and shake my head at. How play on that second goal was truly special.

Glad I am not alone. He is operating at full capacity at all times... like he is redlining it from puck drop to final horn. He is getting the job done, doesn't look good, but doesn't have to. Without the puck, cannot deny he is good. Both he and (especially) Benn were handling the puck like it was a grenade last night.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

He and Mirtle didn’t know Cernak was good until last year’s playoffs.

Siegel and Mirtle don't make trades.

(PSA)

 

[ToneDog]

Marner made Rangers forwards look like JT in OT vs Habs. Talk about catching all 3 flatfooted and then beating Shesterkin like a rented mule. That was filty.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Jonas Siegel was saying a few weeks back that he'd trade Liljegren for Horvat

Obviously a closet 'Nucks fan.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Great game, amazing OT goal by Marner. I haven’t jumped out of my seat and scared the cat screaming for a goal in ages.

Lilly showing once again he’s more than ready for prime time. If only the coach game him some PP time it would be nice to see a PP point man who could actually hit the net with a shot once in awhile.

You mean hit the net as opposed to shin pads or stick of the defenceman? Man that guy is frustrating. With Lily's offensive potential, great passing, and most importantly, hard low shot from the point, he's a natural for the PP. I've been so impressed with his defensive game, he's a pretty strong guy on the man and the puck.

As for the game, once again, you play the goalie who is hot and feeling it. Without another great game from Samsonov, we could have easily lost this game. A little afraid with what Murray is going to produce on Friday.

The only other concern I have is the pairing of Holl and Rielly. Holl was processing the game so slowly that the Rangers pressured him on the puck sometimes with two players and his passes were intercepted or he was dispossessed with the body. Rielly had a decent game again which is encouraging but he shouldn't be on the PP with the offence he is producing right now.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Folks last night we watched da emergence for 1st time of Lily as a #1D .. if he keeps this progression up you are looking at Norris candidate in 2-3 years .. best thing to happen to us in a long time .. we needed someone to fill Muzzy's shoes and guess what it is Lily .. and a beauty by Mitch which can't go unmentioned .. da dagger was worth da price of admission .. another solid game from Sammy too

 

[Zybalto]

Best and worst even strength defensive dmen (who log 20+ minutes a night) in the NHL this season:



Brodie doesnt get enough love and some interesting names at the bottom....

 

[GoonieFace]

Marner made Rangers forwards look like JT in OT vs Habs. Talk about catching all 3 flatfooted and then beating Shesterkin like a rented mule. That was filty.

Not sure what Zibenejad was doing on that play lol, he literally just moved out of the way

 

[horner]

Was Morgan

Liljegren showing this season why he should be considered the Leafs top Dman.

Good to see the Leafs make a comeback to tie and then win the game in OT.

I think he is an all around better player than Morgan was at the same age.
Moegan had a better offensive game at that time but Lilly's defensive is far superior

I hope Morgan can get back his game.

LILLY right now is our top D-man.
Did LA ever screw up , if rumors were true Lilly or Durzi in the Muzzin trade

 

[ToneDog]

Was Morgan

I think he is an all around better player than Morgan was at the same age.
Moegan had a better offensive game at that time but Lilly's defensive is far superior

I hope Morgan can get back his game.

LILLY right now is our top D-man.
Did LA ever screw up , if rumors were true Lilly or Durzi in the Muzzin trade

I believe they are true but some have argued that it was not. Question is what were Leafs thinking ?? Perhaps they preferred the Dubas draft pick over the Hunter pick ??

Hindsight is 20/20 but Robert Thomas was taken a couple of picks after Lily and he played for the London Knights. Interesting that Hunter passed on him for Lily.

 

[francis246]

You mean hit the net as opposed to shin pads or stick of the defenceman? Man that guy is frustrating. With Lily's offensive potential, great passing, and most importantly, hard low shot from the point, he's a natural for the PP. I've been so impressed with his defensive game, he's a pretty strong guy on the man and the puck.

As for the game, once again, you play the goalie who is hot and feeling it. Without another great game from Samsonov, we could have easily lost this game. A little afraid with what Murray is going to produce on Friday.

The only other concern I have is the pairing of Holl and Rielly. Holl was processing the game so slowly that the Rangers pressured him on the puck sometimes with two players and his passes were intercepted or he was dispossessed with the body. Rielly had a decent game again which is encouraging but he shouldn't be on the PP with the offence he is producing right now.

You’ve nailed it on the head, I find holl is a good defenseman but his processing is so slow. He hangs onto the puck for that extra second and teams close in on him forcing him to make mistakes. If he can correct that part of his game he’s actually not bad. He keeps his opponents to the outside finishes guys along the boards, has a good stick. But something upstairs don’t click fast enough

 

[francis246]

I believe they are true but some have argued that it was not. Question is what were Leafs thinking ?? Perhaps they preferred the Dubas draft pick over the Hunter pick ??

Hindsight is 20/20 but Robert Thomas was taken a couple of picks after Lily and he played for the London Knights. Interesting that Hunter passed on him for Lily.

I think the organizational need was definitely right handed defenseman at that draft. We had virtually none in the system. Not to mention when the highest rated predraft dman drops in the draft, probably a no brainer to take him.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Best and worst even strength defensive dmen (who log 20+ minutes a night) in the NHL this season:



Brodie doesnt get enough love and some interesting names at the bottom....

I agree. In another thread ranking our defenceman I had Brodie as our best. He's just so solid that sometimes he's underappreciated.

Unfortunately, the second graphic also confirms what most of us see in Rielly's game. Not the greatest defensively, but he should be producing more offensively cause that's his strength. He's a shadow of the player that scored 20 goals and 72 points in 2018-19. Heck, I'd settle for the 10 goals and 68 points from last year. I hope he finds his offensive game cause he isn't going to get better defensively imo.

 

[TIGERCOOL]

Best and worst even strength defensive dmen (who log 20+ minutes a night) in the NHL this season:



Brodie doesnt get enough love and some interesting names at the bottom....

yeah most of the guys listed at the bottom are very effective offensive d-men who are eating big minutes and facing top competition because of it... so you kind of accept their poor defensive WAR. Reilly still moves the puck well put he doesn't put the puck in the net or make good decisions off the rush once he establishes the zone. I don't think he has earned that same deployment when he is just as much of a liability defensively.

The only big surprises to me on that list are McDonagh and Hedman but that might be a result of how heavily relied on they are in all defensive situations. Maybe having down years.

 

[Gallagbi]

Funny reading the Rangers board and their blaming the coach for the loss not starting their 'kid' line, which 2 of are under .5ppg, and the other has 28 in 40 lol. They can't just admit that Kakko and Laf just aren't good.

I get the frustration, that was their best line and the one that caused the most issues for us

 

[1specter]

Obviously a closet 'Nucks fan.

The irony is that Mirtle, who is actually from Vancouver and originally was a Nucks fan growing up, kept shutting Siegel down flat out telling him that Liljegren is an impact player and this his proposal was bad.

 

[stickty111]

The irony is that Mirtle, who is actually from Vancouver and originally was a Nucks fan growing up, kept shutting Siegel down flat out telling him that Liljegren is an impact player and this his proposal was bad.

Jonas just refuses to change his opinion on Liljegren.
He said you could trade him and ++ for Horvat.
Mirtle responded Leafs aren't trading Liljegren for a rental.
Jonas "why not"
Mirtle "you're giving up a cost controlled player and a RHD something you don't have much of for a 8 week forward? It makes no sense
Jonas "I don't agree. They just added Timmins and we'll see what he is. He's young and RHD. They have enough d man to make up for him.
Mirtle "I don't think they do" The way Mirtle said it was he was surprised Jonas made that last point. "You have 40 year old Gio, and Brodie whose getting older. We just came off a game where Liljegren was on the top pair and played well and big mins. You want to give that up for a rental.
Jonas " I think thats a conversation the front office would have to have".
Mirtle " I think it would be a short conversation to be perfectly honest".
Jonas "I think thats a mistake. If you aren't going to take a chance on a year you want to win the cup, because you want to keep Timothy Liljegren.
Mirtle " You take a chance but you don't do anything dumb
Jonas "thats dumb"?
Mirtle "yeah. I think it's a future core piece you're giving up for a guy you have for a month and a half"
Jonas, (in his shocked voice) "future core piece yeah maybe".

Good on Mirtle for responding back and not letting up.

This was the conversation for anyone interested. It's from Jan 18th.
I expect a new Leafs report to come today or tomorrow so we'll see what Jonas says.
I actually like Jonas a lot especially on Overdrive when he comes on, but he's embarrassed himself on the Liljegren talk.

 

[therealkoho]

The news of Marners death was greatly exaggerated. Criticize the play folks, not the player. A couple of the hot takes earlier should be embarrassing.

They always are

 

[therealkoho]

Up until the late goal by Liljegren and then the OT beauty by Marner, the highlight of the night was my wife getting grossed out by Bunting picking his nose.

That was Big Mike's "pick of the week!"

 

[CabanaBoy5]

This was the conversation for anyone interested. It's from Jan 18th.
I expect a new Leafs report to come today or tomorrow so we'll see what Jonas says.
I actually like Jonas a lot especially on Overdrive when he comes on, but he's embarrassed himself on the Liljegren talk.

I don't understand why he was insisting when he's obviously stating an opinion that bears so little weight. It's best he just admits he was wrong about Liljegren and that the trade proposal was ridiculous. Save a little self-respect for any other opinion he may have. Right now, he doesn't look very knowledgable,

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Why don't our players just ice the puck when everyone is standing still? We have scrambles in front of the net, we'll gain possession, then dish the puck off to someone else who is standing still. It seems like only bad things happen when we do this. I'm not bagging on guys standing still during a goal mouth scramble; I just think the better/safer play would be just to get that puck out of Dodge and take our chances with a faceoff.

That 2nd Chytil goal was so aggravating! They were hell bent on committing defensive zone turnovers until the rags found the back of our net which they eventually succeeded in doing. I almost shut the game off after that display of carelessness.